The Stiletto Ballerina
by ladybug28
Summary: The international talent show is about to be taken by storm when a Belarusian woman named Natalia takes the stage. This is no typical ballerina. This ballerina dances on blades... And Alfred can't tear his eyes away. Amebel. AU. Ballerina!Belarus x Judge!America. Human names used. Rated T for Gilbert Biellschmidt and Alfred's potty mouth.


**AN: Hi, this is ladybug28! I figured I should start out by saying that I don't own Hetalia, America's Got Talent (which is where EIT is taken from), Eurovision, Brokeback Mountain, or any reference that may be in here, most likely.**

She didn't look like anything special. So far, the four judges had seen hundreds, dozen of hundreds, contestents dressed to the max to impress them. In all honesty, they didn't want to see all the contestent had to offer in the first performance; they wanted to leave some to take their breath away later. In the past week, judge Alfred Jones had to admit that there hadn't been a lot that had taken their breath away, lately. Last season, though. Last season was a huge success, and it had almost pained him to send any of the competitors home, because they had talent. A lot of it. He wasn't so sure this year would be a success. Neither were the other judges, if their disinterested expressions indicated anything.

Alfred felt sorry for this girl. It seemed as though she had been given one of the worst spots in the day: the very last spot. The judges all wanted to go to their hotel and relax, maybe have a drink. As much fun as Earth Is Talent was to judge, it was incredibly tedious. He was starting to lose hope for the future contestents, but he was a bit optomistic about it, as well. Surely, they had to get better, right? His hopes slightly fell when they introduced her and the girl walked on stage, seeming to hobble a bit awkwardly. He wondered if she was handicapped, but he wasn't able to tell due to the long black cloak that was tied around her throat. It covered her legs and feet completely.

Francis was quite unhappy about this. She was attractive, he noted, and he almost wondered how she was built beneath the cloak. Long blonde hair was tied into a high braid on the back of her head, and a dark colored ribbon was tied around it, looped in a simple bow. Her face was intimidating, drawn into an expression that some might read as unpleasant, or even malicious. Dark blue eyes complimented her pale complextion, lined by long black lashes. This girl was a bit... Different. Her slender hands gripped the microphone the stage-hand had given her, shifting restlessly, and this, and the fact her eyes darted around quickly, was the only indication of how nervous the girl was. Alfred was fascinated by this girl. She didn't look special, but he had come to know in the past that simplicity often held the most special traits. The stagehand made eye contact with the judges and nodded, signalling that they could begin the interview with the girl.

She blinked, startled, as Francis smiled winningly toward her. " _Bonjour_, Madame. How are you today?" he asked her, and Alfred was more than ecstatic that no trace of admiration appeared on her stoic face. " I- I am good, thank you." she forced out, gripping the microphone tighter. Alfred's grin dropped slightly. She was Russian. It reminded him of a guy he had known back in high school, an exchange student in America for the time being. " Very good. Tell me, love, what is your name?" asked Arthur, as he was supposed to do. The girl gulped before answering.

" Natalia. Natalia Braginski."

" And where are you from, Natalia?"

" Belarus, sir."

Alfred's grin returned full fledge. That was close to Russia, but it wasn't Russia, and that's all that mattered to him. Francis' smile hadn't ceased, but neither had Natalia's ability to withstand it. " So whatcha going to do, Natalia? Are ya a singer?" Alfred asked, excitedly. Gilbert, who was beside him, shot him a glare. " I was going to ask that!" he hissed into Alfred's ear. Alfred shrugged at him in return. Natalia had finally begun to answer the question. " _Niama._ No, I mean. I'm a ballerina.." she said quietly. A ballerina! Even better, thought Alfred happily. He may have had a thing for ballerinas... There was one thing bothering him about her, though.

" Won't your cloak get in the way?" asked Prussia, making it so the American wouldn't have to. He was obviously bored by the idea of ballet, and Alfred didn't blame him. After a while, ballet could get boring; luckily for him, the ballerinas did not. Natalia fixed her penetrating gaze on Gilbert and nodded simply. She then undid the drawstring on her cloak and let it fall around her. All four of their mouths promptly dropped open. " She's not seriously going to do this, is she? That's completely daft!" Arthur exclaimed under his breath, covering his mouth and leaning back in his chair. Francis, on the other hand, was on the edge of his seat. Alfred had never seen such bad-assery in his life.

Because Natalia Braginski had attatched stiletto knives to the bottom of her ballet slippers.

He had wanted something different, and it seemed that, by God, he was going to get it. The black leotard she wore was form-fitting, and he liked what he saw; Francis rubbed his hands together in that perverted way of his, cackling at her long legs, but they were all glancing warily down at the killing machines tied to her feet. " _Mein gott.._" murmured Gilbert incredulously. " Hey, Al, have there ever been any deaths on EIT?" Alfred couldn't peel her eyes away from Natalia, even as he shook his head numbly. " Are- Are you ready, Miss?" stuttered Arthur. She nodded and dropped herself into a curtsy, managing to stay en pointe. "'Cause I think there might just be a first." he finished, and Alfred was starting to believe him.

If this chick survived through auditions, he would definitely attempt to get her number.

The music began, and Natalia rose her arms slowly, before rising onto one toe and extending the other leg out, parallel to the stage. She remained crouched on one toe. The music was slow, like a lullabye Alfred's mother might have sang him when he was young. He hated to say it, but if something exciting didn't happen, she probably wouldn't make it through to the next round, no matter how talented she may be. People looked to be excited, entranced.

He wasn't disappointed, because the next moment the music picked up, to something truly fascinating. It was fast and erratic, and her movements matched the sounds. Her body flew and floated across the stage and he was thinking perhaps he might have been in love. The way her arms and legs moved around her body was almost erotic, and he felt a flush rise over his neck. The music reached a crescendo, it's peak of excitement, and then something truly terrifying happened.

Natalia appeared to rise into the air with the speed of the spiral she had turned to, and she became a blur, spinning on top of one knife blade like a hurricane. Her braid could just be seen whipping around her, a golden line circling the blur that was her body.

" Bloody hell," Arthur leaned forward eagerly, placing his open palms on the table in front of him. His bushy eyebrows were rising steadily as her speed increased, matching the volume and intensity of the chosen song. Then everything seemed to stop as the music suddenly dropped to the soft tones that had begun the song. She slowed down in her controlled spiral, dropping lower and lower as the music slowed, until she was once again in her beginning curtsy. The last few notes sounded like the stereotypical spinning-ballerina-in-the-music-box, and she was the farthest thing from that. He could hardly compare a perky blonde girl in a sparkling pink tutu to the intimidating blonde with stiletto knives on her feet.

The notes faded away, and she was met with thunderous applause from the audience. A blush rose to her cheekbones, and Alfred almost missed the tiny smile that stretched her lips as she stood back up.

' I think I might be in love,' Alfred thought in fascination.

" _Mon dieu, Mademoiselle,_ I thought perhaps I might faint!" Francis told her, dramatically placing the back of his hand to his forehead. Alfred rolled his eyes. " When did you learn such a thing?"

Natalia thought for a moment, " I.. began dance classes when I was seven. After a while, I was the best in my class, and decided I wanted to learn more. So I took knife throwing classes. It took a while, but once I learned, I decided I wanted to be more. I attached the knives to the bottom of my slippers for the first time when I was fourteen. I started with butcher knives."

" Yeah, and how many times did you break a bone?" Gilbert asked straight up.

" Twelve times in my life. I've broken all ten of my toes, plus both legs." The audience murmurred. They thought she was insane for doing this. Arthur smiled at her kindly. She had a method to her madness, and he liked that. Not as much as Alfred did, going by his lovestruck puppy eyes. She was slightly scary looking, however.. He had a feeling she knew very well how to throw those knives, and didn't doubt that she took advantage of that when she needed to. " I can honestly say, love, you have my vote. That right there, is pure madness! Not to say it's not genius, but it sure as hell is madness."

One vote from Arthur. " Ah, yes, you have mine, as well, _mon cher_." Two votes.

" I wanna see more of this awesomeness! I'm in!" Three votes. The others looked to Alfred for his vote. He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, just to get a reaction. Arthur was annoyed, Gilbert impatient, and France was still ogling Natalia's legs. " That's pretty damn creative, I have to say, Talia. Think you can do it again?" A fire burned in the Belarusian's eyes and she smirked. " I didn't break all those bones for nothing, did I?" she asked him in a toying manner.

" I hope not." He grinned and her mouth dropped open into an 'O'.

"_D-dziakuj_!" she said numbly, and nearly fell as she hobbled off stage, completely forgetting her black cloak.

" How much do you think it'll cost to get the stage fixed?" Gilbert wondered. At the question, Alfred glanced at the stage. Oh, that's what he meant. There were little holes poked into the wood, as well as one larger, deeper hole from her death spiral. Meh, he though. So worth it. 

An hour later found Alfred exiting the auditorium, Arthur by his side. He was hoping she would still be there so he could talk to her personally. The auditions were always the least busy, so he was sure there would only be a few fans staying behind to fawn over him. He and Arthur had spent the hour playing chess with the portable set Arthur made sure to carry everywhere he went. They almost always stayed behind until the fans subsided and left to go home. He was thrilled when he saw that there were no fans today, and even more thrilled to find that Natalia was still here. It dropped his spirits a little, though, to see who she was hugging.

Her arms were wrapped around the shoulders of a tall man with dark blonde hair and a prominent nose. His nose was almost as prominent as his accent. Ivan Braginski. That bastard had stolen his girl. " I'm proud of you, sestra." he told her fondly, brushing away a strand of hair that had fallen from the ribbon.

" _Spasibo_, Big Brother." Alfred's eyes widened. What was happening? He had been having one of the most eventful days of his life, only to find that his high school rival was the brother of his crush. This was not cool. At Ivan's side, another girl was there, only shorter than Natalia. She was older, that was apparent, as she hugged Natalia next. " I'm so proud! My little sestra is finally getting the recognition she deserves! You were wonderful, Natalia." Natalia mumbled another thanks as she was smooshed between her older sister's rather large breasts. Her sister let her go with a beaming smile that faded when she caught sight of Alfred.

At the confusion on her sister's face, Natalia turned to find Alfred standing awkwardly. He probably didn't look as awkward as he felt, or at least he hoped he didn't. Ivan's eyes narrowed at him. Oh, maybe time didn't heal all wounds. He wanted to kill Alfred, Alfred could tell. " Hello, Mr. Jones. Is everythink alright?" Natalia wondered worriedly.

" Heh, yeah. I was just, uh, wondering if I could talk to you?" he questioned.

" _Da_. Excuse me, Brother, Sister." She came over, dropping her knife-clad slippers beside her brother's foot. Ivan flinched and stepped away from them. Alfred guessed he had been there to witness her knife throwing skills. " You wanted something?"

" I, uh, yeah. Do you wanna maybe... goonadateorsomethinglikethat?" She blinked and cocked her head to the side.

" I don't understand. I apologise, my English is not the best at times."

" I said, um.. Do you maybe want to go on a date some time?" Her eyes widened fractionally, but otherwise she remained stoic. He was going to get rejected, he just knew it. She probably already had a boyfriend.

" You.. Are not afraid of me? Even with the knives?" She slid a knife from the sleeve of her leotard questioningly, almost in a state of disbelief. Alfred stepped back a little.

" Haha, yeah, that is kind of creepy. But that's fine! My best friend is into all that black magic stuff, so it's nothin' I'm not used to already." She slid the knife back up into her sleeve, shooting a nervous glance towards Ivan. " I would like that," Natalia told him truthfully, " but you will have to talk to my brother first." Ivan was staring at them intently, a cheeky smile on his broad face.

Well, shit.

**Alfred/America- Country Star ((Known for his song "_Love Me In The Truck Bed"_ and his picture in Country Babes Calender))**

**Francis/France- Pop star ((Known for his performance in Eurovision 2015, when his song " _Left High and In Love"_ won the show))**

**Arthur/England- Punk singer in a band ((Made the song "_Made in the U of K_" a national hit))**

**Gilbert/Prussia- Major actor ((Starred in the 2016 remake of _Brokeback Mountain_ with Antonio Carriedo))**

**TRANSLATIONS:**

_Da_- Yes

_Nyet_-No (Russian)

_Niama_- No (Belarusian)

_Spasibo-_Thank you (Russian)

_Dziakuj_-Thank you (Belarusian)

_Sestra-_Sister (Russian)

_Mein gott_-My God (German)

_Mon dieu, Madamoiselle-_ My god, Madame (French)

_Bonjour-_Hello (French)

_Mon cher-_ My dear (French)


End file.
